Womens all know my man, call him Mister Tampa Long
(spoken) Why shouldn't they call me? They know my name.
Womens all know my man, call him Mister Tampa Long
He made so much money, women, when the weather was warm
(spoken) Ah no, I ain't made no money in my life.

My man's got five womens, I can call 'em by their natural names
He's got five womens, call them by their natural names
(spoken) Lord, I don't know how they do it.
And all them repeaters sound just the same
(spoken) I ain't just the same, though, no, no.

It must be a black cat bone, jomo can't work that hard
(spoken) Oh, what is a jomo anyhow? Tell me.
It must be a black cat bone, jomo can't work that hard
(spoken) What kind of a thing is it?
Every time I wake up, Jim Tampa's in my yard.

I can stand right here, five miles down the road
I can stand right here, five miles down the road
Yeah, to get in the way Jim Tampa used to go.

COMMENTS BY CAT YRONWODE: This song has proven
difficult to transcribe, due to Lucille Bogan's slurring of
the lyrics. It also contains some words unfamiliar to listeners
who don't regularly listen with pre-War rural blues. "Jomo" is covered
below, but "tommies" in V.1 may need explanation: it is a
regional Southern American variant of doanies, and it is
also encountered in other blues lyrics as "tonies" or, if
spelled "tommies," is often pronounced toe-meez. Doany is an
Elizabethan English word meaning "streetwalker" or "whore."
(Robert Johnson uses the phrase "you're a no-good doany;
they shouldn't 'llow you on the street" in his famous song,
"Dust My Broom," and it is frequently changed into another
word by singers who don't recognize it as English.)

It is my belief that the Chris Smith transcription given
above is the best possible version, but to be fair to
others who have attempted the task, here is a brief log of
variant readings. It is also worth noting that Bob Macleod
freely concedes that some of his early transcriptions were
not altogether accurate, so although this one did appear in
print, he may no longer endorse it as the best possible
interpretation.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: Individual acknowledgements for
transcriptions and discographical data appear on each
song-page, but i want to note that this Blues Lyrics and
Hoodoo archive would never have been possible without the
contributions of Gorgen Antonsson, who generously shared
with me the format and content of his own personal lyrics
archive, and Alan Balfour and Chris Smith, who have
devoted a great deal of time to supplying me with tapes,
transcribed lyrics, and detailed discographical information.
Additionally, i wish to thank the kind members of the prewar
blues e-list who have aided my research in innumerable ways.
If you have missing data to supply, hear a substantially
different take on a transcription, or want to let me know
about a song that has been overlooked in these pages, please
contact me through the prewar blues e-list:
http://www.groups.yahoo.com/group/pre-war-blues.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Due to certain social, economic, and
political paradigms in place at the time of their
composition, many early blues songs were improperly
copyrighted or not copyrighted at all. Many bore no composer
credits. Many were ripped off by unethical music publishers
who falsely claimed authorship and copyrighted them in their
own names. Many that were once copyright-protected are now
in the public domain due to publishers' or composers'
failures to properly renew the copyrights. Many have since
been ripped off by unethical performers or music publishers
who have pretended to be the composers for the purpose of
securing a belated copyright or who have claimed
"arranger's" credits on songs they falsely swore were
"traditional" when in fact the songs were composed by the
people who originally performed them on record. It is my
sincere belief that the song transcribed on this page bears
the implied moral copyright of its composer, whoever that
may be. If you believe that you control the copyright by
virtue of authorship or legal legerdemain, you may contact
me in a civil and polite manner and i will attempt in good
faith to satisfy your needs in the matter of obtaining
formal permission to quote the lyrics in this scholarly
publication.